Best Albums of 1986

Listed below are the best albums of 1986 as calculated from their overall rankings in over 58,000 greatest album charts. (Chart last updated: 42 minutes ago).
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1986 year summaryThe best artists of 1986 were The Smiths, Metallica, Paul Simon, Peter Gabriel, XTC, Talk Talk, Slayer, R.E.M., Beastie Boys and Depeche Mode.
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"One of the most interesting records from their incredible discography. There are still a few traces of their noisy beginnings, but not that much actually. There are melodies here. And damn great ones. This may not be the most instantly rewarding of their indie period, but with time, it clearly be..."  [+]  Reply
- drakonium | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +6 votes (6 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
2,253
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""hair metal" yada yada, "spawned mtv's unplugged" yada yada ... What really strikes is that this is hard rock with a stylistic edge with fun hooks that doesn't overstay its welcome. The key ingredient to this album's, and this band's success, is jon bon jovi's writing chops -- the everyman workin..."  [+]  Reply
- paladisiac | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +5 votes (5 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,924
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Average Rating:
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"Even if he doesn't seem to realize it to this day, being thrown out of Metallica was undoubtedly the best thing that could have happened to Mustaine, not least because, well, it eventually paved the way for this - a distinctive, punkish, scorching and urgent beast of an album further elevated by ..."  [+]  Reply
- HAUSU | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (2 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,587
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"I listen to this one on vinyl all the time since my uncle gave me an original copy along with Purple Rain. The sum is greater than it's parts for sure as it has a loose concept going on based on the horrible movie Prince directed (The one talent he didn't exactly shine in, though a decent actor)...."  [+]  Reply
- CJMishellsan | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,565
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"Somewhere in time, is always thought of as the weakest of the Bruce Dickinson eighties albums, and yes, Alexander the great, is terrible, but the rest, especially the first side, is great. Caught somewhere in time, is a great opening track, and, wasted years, is a great pop metal anthem. Sea of m..."  [+]  Reply
- garycottier | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,441
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,406
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"This one is no more "pop" than the previous two albums, but it probably "feels" more poppy because it rolls out all of the mid 80s cliches: glossy production, over-the-top keyboards, etc. Plus, half of the album is on regular radio rotation, so we just associate it with "pop". It's certainly more..."  [+]  Reply
- Deckiller | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,318
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,202
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Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,155
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"New Wave was never the most coherent of genres and this release only marginally fits into that categorisation. The loose guitars, not-so-subtle synths and pounding drums, alongside Matt Johnson’s soulful vocals, make for a wonderful listen, however. Worth your time. Rating: Very Good Best track: ..."  [+]  Reply
- IanFrance | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful) Help A maximum of 5 top-voted qualifying comments are selected for each album. To provide the best experience for visitors, comments are excluded if they refer to data corrections, contain excessive profanity, are written in all caps, are non-English, are too short, consist of conversations between users, or contain lists of best tracks etc.
Year of Release:
1986
Appears in:
Rank Score:
1,077
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Total albums: 1,000. Page 2 of 100

Best Albums of 1986 composition